Premier defends focus on tourism support

| 10/06/2020 | 66 Comments
Cayman News Service
Premier Alden McLaughlin at Tuesday’s press briefing

(CNS): The government is giving direct assistance to Caymanians who worked in tourism before the COVID-19 pandemic struck because the sector “has crashed”, Premier Alden McLaughlin said Tuesday. As the most challenged sector, it was “right and proper that the government should focus on trying to assist people” with no work or any possibility of work, he said as he justified singling out tourism for greater help.

Despite repeated claims from the public that they are waiting weeks for their applications to be acknowledged, let alone processed, by the Needs Assessment Unit, the premier said it was there to help people who were out of work in other sectors. He dismissed the idea that the NAU was not helping, stating that it was assisting some 10,000 people by one means or another.

McLaughlin said the direct assistance for the tourism sector was not the only thing government was doing to try to help rebuild the economy, including measures to provide significant financial assistance to businesses. The premier said that if businesses cannot operate, then they cannot employ people.

“Government is of limited means. We simply cannot afford to pay salaries to every single person that is unemployed. Even what we are doing for tourism workers… is very small,” he said. “We are very conscious that we can’t fix everything but we certainly are doing everything that we can.”

The premier said he was expecting that people would begin receiving money from their pensions soon given that some 20,000 applications have been made, which would help.

“We are driving really hard to get the various elements of the economy moving again,” McLaughlin said, as he noted that the restrictions were beginning to end and construction was helping to boost the economy. he said that government would continue to support economy where it could to “get us through these very difficult times” until the borders could open again.


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Category: Business, Economy, Politics, Tourism

Comments (66)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Alden….have two billion to spend….better spend it wisely bo bo….revenue won’t be around for a long time. Help your people old boy…and not just a select few.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Who cares about the rest of the tourism industry? I can get beer and a curry at Sunset House again. Life is good.

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    • Anonymous says:

      I know not all restaurants have a full compliment of staff ….but if you are going to serve curry they need to improve on current standard of tandoori dry chicken mixed with any sauce you choose. It may be temporary due to staffing levels but then don’t expect to charge 21.00

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  3. Anonymous says:

    I used to love flying out to Denver or Amsterdam to smoke legal weed at outrageous prices due to the sales tax they charge.

    High time we expand our tourism product to reap the benefits these countries have demonstrated. I do tours and you know how many guests used to ask where they can get a spliff to watch the sunset with??

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  4. Anonymous says:

    The man with no plan

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    • Anonymous says:

      Didn’t he say they were working on a big economic plan and he held up some draft (maybe blank papers) at a press conference and said the plan would be released soon? Did I miss the release of that very important plan or has it just been left to die a quiet death?

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      • Anonymous says:

        Not sure you can have a plan with record number of Coronavirus cases in Florida, Texas and Arizona. America has to clean up its public health situation first.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    alden decoded: private sector will suffer but we will maintain all jobs/salaries in the civil service irrespective

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  6. Anonymous says:

    Just for fun, try to call the nau and try to get somebody on the phone. It is impossible.

    The government does not have enough money to help everybody ?
    Nonsense. It is a matter of priorities.

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    • Anonymous says:

      How bout the attitude when you do get through…let you know they are doing you a favor.

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      • Anonymous says:

        @ 9.13 Add the DVLD, Post Office and Immigration to that too. The public are just a burden to these people. Never met a more ignorant bunch.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Savannah post office was very helpful during several conversations over the phone when I needed to get a postbox recently!

    • Anonymous says:

      Really wonder what they do all day there?

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      • Anonymous says:

        Attend meetings about planning other meetings and then break for lunch and then go to the Office…Office Bar that is.

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  7. Justin says:

    I just spent $30k on holiday in Florida instead of Cayman because of the shut down. Listen up, open up, covid is a hoax.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Justin you are truly stupid. Coronavirus cases are up since June 4th in Florida by 12% and by 14% in Texas. The facts do not lie though the President of the United States is a great liar as he treats all the doctors and scientists as fools simply so he can get re-elected in November.

      So much for the President caring about public safety.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Sure hope you did not bring the coronavirus back with you from Florida, Justin. Have you been tested?

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    • Anonymous says:

      A hoax? Over 1,300 people died in America yesterday from the virus and over 113,000 Americans have died from the virus in the last 4 months. What world are you living on Justin?

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      • Anonymous says:

        Fake news 982. Only off by nearly 30%.

        Either way, Americans are through with covid-19 surrender.

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        • Anonymous says:

          as if you have a choice in the matter, the white house wants the virus rampant to kill off the vulnerable that use up tax payers money.
          Problem is they are all the fox news watchers.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Trump is prepared to kill off the over 70 crowd to get re-elected. The man has no humanity.

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          • Anonymous says:

            Trump is clearly saying to everybody, that his re-election is far more important than American public health. Sad but true.

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          • Anonymous says:

            There is no limit to how many Trump is prepared to kill to get re-elected. Just look at what one has to sign and agree to if one wants to attend his political rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma next week. What is wrong with this picture? Think Trumpsters. This is sheer lunacy.

        • Anonymous says:

          10:42, The stats come today from the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science & Engineering. Check the stats out yourself. Of course, being a Trump supporter, you will yell fake news as no amount of stats are useful to the stupid and conspiracy theorists. Makes no difference who provides the stats to you.

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        • Anonymous says:

          10:42, Science is NOT / NOT fake news.

    • Anonymous says:

      The State of Arizona today informed all of hospitals there to implement emergency plans due to a huge number of new cases the past week.

      You say there is a hoax? Get off the Trump bandwagon.

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      • Anonymous says:

        I checked stats and see 31% increase in cases in Arizona since June 4th. WOW.

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      • Anonymous says:

        And Trump is going to hold campaign meetings in the states showing a rise in new cases/hospitalisations .. people attending have to sign a waiver that they won’t sue him if they get sick !!!!! bwahhhaahahhaaaa
        Oh yeah, Justin, let’s hear about your hoax theory now.

    • Anonymous says:

      We supposedly have around 1000 cases, nobody dead and nobody in the hospital. What’s the mortality rate these days compared to 100 other things that can make you sick and die?

      The charade continues…

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    • Anonymous says:

      Tell us something we don’t know.

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    • Anonymous says:

      How many double lung transplants do you think are performed during a “normal flu season”? Good luck.

      https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/11/health/coronavirus-lung-transplant.html

    • Anonymous says:

      America is FAILING in its fight against coronavirus.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Justin, Guess that’s why 1,698 new coronavirus cases were recorded In Florida yesterday. A new one day record. Justin, you are a fool and a stupid fool at that.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Well since the majority of the people in Tourism are from George Town or West Bay they must be kept on the gravy train for Votes..Where are the PPM/UDP strongholds?

    Until Caymanians realize that our government is keeping us uneducated, underpaid, or unemployed so that we are dependent on them and they are assured of our vote..

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  9. Justaguy says:

    Stick to the plan cig

    You had one
    The virus is not what we all thought
    We should be thankful for that
    But still be weary

    You have a plan
    Stick to it

    You have done amazing to get us to here
    You should be proud

    We all had plenty of time to think and make ourselves and what we do better

    You, the cayman islands, it’s beautiful understand people should be very proud

    We are ready for the next step..

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  10. Anonymous says:

    Our governments was willing to spend $300 million of our money for a port we did not want but the Premier is saying the government can’t help everyone. WTF!

    The last time I checked every one on this island pays tax just by living here.

    If we are in the top 50 financial centers in the BBC world and WE CANT DO BETTER!

    This is not humanity this is madness.

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  11. Anonymous says:

    Why did it take so long to help the first hit sector? Too little, too late.

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  12. Anonymous says:

    Perhaps they should contribute a little more to battered wives as well?

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  13. Anonymous says:

    Early campaigning….what a bunch.

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  14. Anonymous says:

    This is pure madness.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Countries all over the world helped their citizens. The majority of Americans got checks. The tourism industry has been wiped out, probably for the rest of the year? What would you rather see? People starving and crime going up because people can’t feed their children? A lot of us, myself included, haven’t been affected at all financially because of COVID-19. In fact, I’ve been saving way more money than I usually do because I have so few ways to spend it. However, there are people who worked in tourism who lost some or all of their income. We should help them. It’s not only what a Christian society should do, it’s what responsible humans beings should do. I know there are other sectors – hair salons for one – that have been equally impacted up until now, but they’re going to be able to reopen soon. Tourism is dead at least until September and probably longer than that (even if Cayman opens for September 1, September and October are the worst two tourism months). Staycations might help a little, but even if every person in the Cayman Islands took a staycation, the numbers are a fraction of stayover tourism. The money many tourism workers can earn over the next six our seven months is not enough to live on. This is a crisis for those people. We help people after hurricanes. Why not now? I don’t have a problem with helping them – just as long there aren’t widespread abuses of the assistance, which means strict oversight.

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      • Anonymous says:

        This was not even helpful. So the other people not in tourism (cause not everyone works at a salon), must go on welfare which will still cost you money as a tax payer.

        Do people just think these people are just going to magically disappear and not show up in the system?

        10,000 people (number at NAU) given $500 for 3 months is $15,000,000. That’s IS nothing compared to what they are paying to extend the airport that no planes can fly to right now.

        Maybe government should prioritize it’s finances and rethink its present and future projects and actually help it’s people.

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      • Anonymous says:

        GIG must help ALL people who lost their jobs because they forced them or their employers to stop business activities.

        Why is it so hard to understand ????

        If it doesn’t have money to help all who it forced in destitute and poverty, it must not be helping others, based on favoritism. It must be illegal al least!! Who is watching CIG??? Premier appears to be confusing public purse with his own.

        Unless you and Premier are helping with your own money out of your own pocket all affected people must be helped!!

        Every person in America got the stimulus check, even those who are retired or on disability.

        Lastly, what Christianity has to do with it???!

        My advise to those who are being ignored by Premier and his coots: SUE. Set a precedent.

        Closed by coronavirus, businesses in the US launch wave of lawsuits to force insurers to pay for lockdown losses.

        Pressure on insurers isn’t only coming in the form of lawsuits.
        State lawmakers, including in Illinois, New York and New Jersey, have proposed laws that would dictate insurers accept business claims for coronavirus damage, in some cases even if policies exclude pandemics.

        In the Cayman Islands there were NO wide spread C19 epidemic.
        CIG issued its orders based on fears, not reality. Measures taken were disproportionate to what was and still is happening here.
        There are so many arguments for a good, fun loving lawyers who would want to set a precedent.

        “They are in the business of selling people insurance for exactly this kind of situation,” one attorney said. “They can’t now cry they’re poor when the very situation they are insuring arises.” https://www.google.com/amp/s/fortune.com/2020/04/23/coronavirus-businesses-lawsuits-force-insurers-pay-lockdown-losses/amp/
        Litigation Underway to Force Insurance Companies to Pay for Business Losses Associated with Coronavirus https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/litigation-underway-to-force-insurance-28592/

        Businesses Suing Over Covid-19 Shutdowns May Have a Case.
        States should have to justify which businesses are nonessential. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/opinion/articles/2020-04-26/business-owners-suing-over-covid-19-shutdowns-may-have-a-case

        Plaintiffs Hope to Consolidate COVID-19 Business-Interruption Lawsuits https://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2020/04/23/296699.htm

        Then you sue the government.
        Does Cayman Constitution has s clause that requires the government to pay just compensation when it takes private property for a public use? Does that apply when the government orders a business to close its doors indefinitely in order to help prevent the spread of COVID-19? Is the shuttered business entitled to compensation for its troubles?
        These are not hypothetical questions.

        Consolidate your claims and file. CIG might suddenly decide to stop playing favoritism and provide assistance to all businesses and employees it forced into closing.

        The whining and arguing for limitations is becoming tiresome. So stop. Take actions. The year is 2020, just see what is happening in the world. THE CHANGE!

        JUST DO IT! It is YOUR money, CIG is just a custodian you appointed.

        So here are the first 3 steps to take:
        #1 open Constitution and start reading line by line to see if it has A Taking clause.
        # Find which legal document defines non-essential business.
        #3 read line by line your business insurance contract. It might not even have a pandemic exclusion clause.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Retraining people working in tourism sector should have started 2 months ago! That would have been proactive!

        Supporting people who don’t need retraining but were forced to stop working would have been prudent.

        CIG ineptitude is mind boggling.

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      • Anonymous says:

        8:37, your comment is not coherent and arguments are primitive.

        Pure madness means that helping one but excluding another MUST HAVE legal basis when money belong to BOTH.

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  15. Anonymous says:

    CNS, you should put in a FOI request for statistics from the government’s employee Time Reporting System (TRS).
    TRS is where every government employee is required to record, in 15-minute intervals and in various broad activity categories, what they do every day. It would be interesting to see what some government employees have been recording in this system during lock down especially in areas where it would be impossible to “work from home”. For example, the Premier was surprised to find out birth certificates were not being issued by government…what were these employees doing all this time? Were they re-purposed? I doubt it.
    This would make a great audit for the Auditor General…just what value has the public got from all the public servants having a jolly at home? At the very least, salaries should have been temporarily cut by 25% and that money used to help others who have zero…yes, zero. And yes, the MLA’s should absolutely have taken a temporary pay-cut…Honourable my a$$.
    So, the government has tons of cash to waste on people doing nothing (OK, a couple people made themselves useful) and then has the gall to say they can barely help anyone else, what a laugh. An even bigger laugh is the one time $150 food voucher for work permit holders who, through no fault of their own, don’t have a job and have no way to leave the island even if they have money to do so. What a kick in the teeth! Expat lives matter. While they can still breath, they can barely ear, Sir.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Eat* They can barely eat! Typos…

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    • anon says:

      The George Town Post Office is closed, whilst this morning there were 40 people lined up outside the Airport Post Office, when I went to buy a book of 25c stamps. This is madness for the public, get them all working.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Abolish the Postal Service here. A totally inefficient and useless organisation. They lose my mail on a regular basis and provide dismal service.

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        • Anonymous says:

          A lot of money can be saved by closing down completely the Postal Service. The Service is run like a 19th Century institution.

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          • Anonymous says:

            Whatever happened to all those cost saving suggestions in the EY report? Wasn’t the best a brightest Caymanian (Mary Rodriguez) put in charge of making a ton of changes and given lots of staff and money? Her made up entity probably still exists and is getting paid to do nothing while hiding out in obscurity hoping no one lookS under the rug!

            • Anonymous says:

              Next year CIG will have no choice but to implement some of those cost saving suggestions as we are in for really hard times next year.

  16. Anonymous says:

    “We simply cannot afford to pay salaries to every single person that is unemployed”..however we can pay salaries to those overemployed….namely me and my felllow greedy lil mla’s.

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